Skip to main content

tv   The War Room With Jennifer Granholm  Current  January 10, 2013 7:00pm-8:00pm PST

7:00 pm
ll with us? >> yes. >> joy: do they think that being gay is a choice? you need to educate them. >> i should take them to prison. >> joy: everybody funny in the family? >> we're all so funny. when we went to school, the teachers would go oh, no, not another wayans. oh lord. >> joy: are the girls funny? are they doing what you guys do? >> my sister kim does. my other four sisters all very talented, very funny. they just don't do this. the funniest moms ever. >> joy: the funniest moms but the guys really outdid it. >> they did. >> joy: thank you so much. so nice to meet you. lovely to meet you. >> are you on twitter? >> joy: follow me on twitter. marlon l. wayans. >> joy: i'm at joy v behar. marlon's movie haunted house hits movies tomorrow. he'll be at the borgata february 9th. i will be talking with the
7:01 pm
legendary mel brooks. they're great. >> jennifer: i'm jennifer granholm. tonight in the war room the answer is no, and we don't care what the question is. at least that seemed to be the running theme in a busy day at the office from the executive branch. of course when you're dealing with the nra this is somewhat expected. republicans have made no secrets that they intend to make the confirmation of chuck hagel very difficult. and jack lou who was nominated for treasury secretary will have a much easier go of it than hagel. well the conventional wisdom may be wrong.
7:02 pm
alabama senator jeff sessions, who is the ranking minority member of the senate budget committee had this to say about jack lou. >> i tend to oppose this nomination. he doesn't bring the former new york fed chairman like secretary geithner and other very prominent people that we've had as secretary of treasury the premier financial position in the united states government more important because our president has no training, and really no understanding of class classical business and economics. >> jennifer: and an unnamed congression nat source told the "washington post" jennifer ruben that lou was the one to screw up any dales deals and proposed lefty positions, whatever that means.
7:03 pm
and, we don't need a treasury secretary who thinks that wall street deregulation was not responsible for the financial crisis. we need a treasury secretary who will work hard to break up too-big-to-fail financial institutions so well street cannot cause normassive financial crisis. but, are there enough lawmakers who don't approve of lou to scuttle the nomination? i say no way. coming to us from washington, d.c. tonight to discuss this story and more about president obama's second term cabinet tad divine. welcome to "the war room"." >> good to be here, governor. >> jennifer: jack lou seems like the perfect nominee. twice confirmed. he's conservative, an orthodox jew. he returns to his family every
7:04 pm
weekend. he eats his plain cheese sandwich at his desk out out of a brown paper bag and more importantly he knows everything financially why are they aposhianed to him. what has he done wrong. >> he knows more about the budget than they do, they don't want to negotiate with him. they have decided to engage in non-stop partisan warfare at every turn. this is another opportunity to make trouble. they refuse to accept what the people decided in the last election. wherever they can they'll turn against the president and his appointees. it's as simple as that. >> jennifer: do you think the white house, because of his previous confirmations being relatively easy, do you think the president thought lou's confirmation would be easy as well. >> no, i don't. the president came in and i got to hear from all of them. i will tell that you they are
7:05 pm
really of the understanding now and it's very different from the first year, the first administration that the non-stop partisan wear warfare from the republicans will continue. the only way to deal with this is to confront it. i think that they're determined to make sure the president has his own team in place at the cabinet and his policies will be implemented. >> jennifer: this is so interesting to me, do you think that suggests what you said there, that he's not going to be bowed by what will be objections by the senate no matter what. they're going to come no matter what. he'll put in place the team that he wants. if that isn't the case, why wouldn't he have stuck with susan rice, for example. >> i think first with susan it's not sure whether he wanted john kerry or susan to be the secretary of state. he had been through a long tough campaign.
7:06 pm
as soon as the campaign was over the republicans decideed to manufacture another crisis on the fiscal cliff. i think the president is determined to appoint the people he feels are best, and the republicans are determined at every turn to oppose them no matter what the merits. >> jennifer: i completely agree with you. it will be battle after battle after battle. folks out there if you're battle weary you better put on your armor, it's coming. if jack lou becomes treasury secretary. >> i don't think that will stop him at all. >> jennifer: i agree. that means his chief of staff will be open. ron klain and denis tell bus that. >> i've worked with ron. he's extraordinaryily well-qualified. he has been the chief of staff
7:07 pm
to the vice president gore two administrations, vice president gore and vice president biden and he is trusted by the president. denis i don't know as well. he's respected and experiment in foreign policy and worked with president obama going back to the first campaign where he advised him on foreign policy and he worked for senator daschle. the president has two great choices. either one is prepared to be chief of staff. >> jennifer: like you i know ron kliani more than denis and i think he'll be fabulous. these first appointments are all white males. my feeling is we haven't seen
7:08 pm
the finality of the appointments yet. >> yes, the president demonstrated in the first administration's its commitment to diversity. the first point was the supreme court. he appointed two women and the first hispanic member of the court. i think you'll see when the president fills his cabinet and staff, it will be america at its best diversity. >> jennifer: there is news that some people say is president obama most controversial cabinet member were the perspective of congress who is attorney general eric holder. he's going to be staying on awhile longer, although as late as november eric holder hinted that he would be leaving in the second term. why the seeming change in position? >> well, i think again it goes back to the fact that it was a tough re-election campaign.
7:09 pm
it was hard fought to the end. when it was ended the republicans started a fiscal cliff which they have manufactured. i don't think the administration has had the luxury of spending weeks and months in determining what the second term of the cabinet would be. if you were the attorney general sometimes they get in the middle things that maybe they don't want to end and leave office until its ended. there may be factors there. but right now the president wants to be deliberate, and the attorney general who is very close to the president, will afford him whatever he wants in that regard. >> jennifer: i agree and i think he has been a terrific attorney general too. tad thank you for giving us the inside strategic scoop. coming up, it's like giveing a courtesy call to the brick wall that you plan on going over, around and through. we'll talk about joe biden's
7:10 pm
meeting today. and as if we needed another warning about the crisis, another shooting at a california high school. four more years to leave a legacy. it's "the war room" on a thursday night. we're just getting started. alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.
7:11 pm
hershey's simple pleasures chocolate. 30% less fat, 100% delicious.
7:12 pm
you know who's coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys who do like verse mortgage commercials?
7:13 pm
those types are coming on to me all the time now. >> she gets the comedians laughing... >> that's hilarious! >> ...and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there's wiggle-room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> you would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me. >> absolutely! >> and so would mitt romeny. >> she's joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv. [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> jennifer: today vice president joe biden held a press conference about his task force and said he will soon have a proposal for the president. >> my colleagues are putting together a series of recommendations for the president that will--that he will take a look at. there is a very tight window to do this. i'm committed to him that i would have these recommendations to him by tuesday. >> jennifer: by tuesday.
7:14 pm
but, newscasts cut away from the vice president's announcement midway through the speech. why? because there was breaking news of another school shooting. that's right, another school shooting while the president was talking about curbing gun violence. >> two people have been shot at taft high school. we have been told that someone has been taken into custody. >> reporter: one student is in critical condition. a teacher was also reportedly wounded in taft california. this is not the only recent violent shooting. since newtown there have been nearly 700 gun deaths in the united states. just since nu town. this does not happen in any other country it simply does not. there was a groundbreaking study from the institutes of medicine and the national research
7:15 pm
council which shows the united states reads the world in firearm homicide and it's 20 sometimes higher than the next 23 countries. and that is a big part of the reason that among developed countries americans now have the lowest probability of living to age 50. you want american exceptionalism? we are exceptional for early death rate, gun violence and things are getting worse not better. since 2004 since 2004 violent homicide have increased by a lot. the number of shootings per year since 2004 has doubled. the number of victims per year has tripled and half of all the mass killing deaths in this country like new town, aurora and virginia tech have all taken place since 2004. what happened that should mark
7:16 pm
the beginning of such a deadly period in american history? what happened? here's what, the assault weapons ban expired. that was the ban that president clinton signed in 1994, ten years earlier. it outlawed assault weapons and high capacity ammunition clips and mass shootings went down after it was put in place. but once it expired they spiked again rising to the historic levels. in fact, the two mass shootings in the past year, newtown and aurora, were committed with, you guessed it, assault weapons. president clinton put a spotlight on the issue. >> i grew up in hunting country but this is nuts. why does anybody need a 30-clip a 30-round clip for a gun? why does anybody need one of those things that carry 100
7:17 pm
bullets? >> jennifer: it is nuts. back in 1994 clinton was able to get the ban passed in part by including the nra in the negotiations. now critics say that that resulted in a bill that was full of loopholes nevertheless, it was a ban. today the nra's top lobbyists plus leaders from other gun groups were back in the white house meeting with joe biden indicating that he wants to tighten gun safety laws and reinstate the ban. after the meeting the gun group did not sound pleased. it released a statement saying we were disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the second amendment. we will not take our commitment and meaningful contributions to members of congress of both parties who are interested in having an honest conversation about what works.
7:18 pm
they are not happy campers. and that conversation about what works will likely include the nra's proposals to bring more guns into schools with armed guards and gun-carrying teachers. similar laws are already being proposed in tennessee, in alabama, and in virginia. for more on that i'm joined by virginia democratic party chair charniele herring. where the nra is based. she's coming from richmond virginia, welcome inside "the war room." >> thank you for having me. >> jennifer: you bet. virginia is now considering a measure to arm teachers. do you think that will prevent school violence? >> no, i do not. what will prevent school violence is a measured, practical, and realistic approach. arming teachers is a concept
7:19 pm
that is rejected by most virginians, and i'll tell you why. teachers are trained to teach. police officers are trained to protect the community. it takes time and experience to develop the adjustment in a crisis situation. police officers have that training. teachers don't. you know, a couple of hours of training for a teacher to carry a firearm is one thing. a crisis situation is something else. >> jennifer: so i'm interested in this. your colleague or your a colleague in the legislation bob marshall proposed that very measure. he was in "the war room" this week and i would love for you to take a listen to what he had to say. >> if a person was trained the same way a policeman was trained or a policewoman was trained to respond as if the police were there, it would cut these things short, reduce the amount of killing. >> jennifer: so, i mean if a
7:20 pm
citizen is trained why wouldn't that make sense to see if that would reduce gun violence? >> the raining that he's talking about, i mean, it's significant. and you know, officers spend time in the field and that helps with their judgment. what this bill does, and if you take a close look at t he's just talking about some hours of training, and you know, a s.w.a.t. team is different from somebody who is sitting at a security desk. people are wanting a quick fix to the situation, and what we need is a comprehensive practical and reasonable approach. you know arming teachers is not the answer, but what the answer is allowing communities to determine what is appropriate for their schools. >> jennifer: well, and that's really a great point. in testing and taking the pulse of the community there was a recent poll that found that the majority of virginia residents do support the idea of armed
7:21 pm
guards trained armed guards, but not armed teachers. i'm just wondering you're chair of the democratic party. i worry about the issue of guns being politicized in a partisan way. do you think that there is a way to deal with this issue without becoming polarized along partisan lines? >> i think there absolutely is a way. in virginia, we decided we are going to look at this comprehensively, and have administrators from school, parents, police officers, and safety experts to have a discussion about the best way to do it. it does not need to be a polittized issue. we're talking about our children. but we must do it in a practical way. he jumped up and proposed this bill and announced he was going to do this just because his governor said this is a consideration, to arm the teachers. we need to take a step back and do this right. we cannot afford to have
7:22 pm
teachers armed and then have a tragic accident. we must do it right. >> jennifer: right, so it's interesting that the nra recruited, believe it or not 100,000 new members after newtown. i worry i wonder how you feel if these events make the nra more powerful. 100,000 new members. >> right and that's an astounding number. my concern and actually they say it, and i see it on tv. those members of nra say we're buying more guns because we're afraid that our gun rights are going to be taken away. we're not talking about taking away begun rights, but being responsible gun owners and safety and protecting our children in a correct manner. >> jennifer: you can't say that enough. the democrat party has been more moderate in the past.
7:23 pm
here's the republican party platform said in 1972 said. we pledge a tireless campaign against crime to restore safely the streets. that was in the 70s. by 1980, this is what it said in the 1980 and beyond. we believe the right of citizens to keep and bear arms mouth be reserved and accordingly we oppose registration of firearms. do you think the republican party can return to a more reasonable stance as you described? >> i don't foresee it in the near future, and i'll tell i couldn't. it seems that they're going to the far extreme on most everything. if you talk about let's regular regulate the ammunition, the rounds that can be fired quickly.
7:24 pm
they jump up and say you can't to take our guns away. in the 70s it was about responsible gun ownership. it seems that they are not about that any more, and it's as if somebody is trying to take away their second amendment rights. we regulate speech and time and manner and place. we have to have responsible gun ownership. it doesn't mean that we're going to take away guns but we're serious about protecting our children. that needs to be primary. it's amazing that the response was that i'm going to join the nra instead the response was let me go to my local school board. let me go to the pole pta meeting, let's listen to the parents about what they want for their children. >> jennifer: charniele herring democratic party chair, thank thank thank you for coming inside "the war room." it seems that the only way we pay attention in the nation to gun violence is when we pay
7:25 pm
attention to the fallen, when we hear their stories and feel the heartbreak of their families. beginning tonight and each night after we're going to do just that. we're going to tell the stories of the fallen. we'll begin with 17-year-old martedy kent who was killed in front of his home in modesto california, on wednesday. the teenager jumped in front of a bullet that was reportedly meant for his mother. she was on her front porch confronting a group that was fighting outside of her house when someone pulled a gun on her. marty took the bullet meant for her, and he died in her arms. no argument should escalate to this kind of violence. we do not need more guns to keep us [ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check. ok. [ voice of dennis ] silence. are you in good hands?
7:26 pm
um, hello. these ugly stains are ruining my good looks and style. and good luck using that cleaner. excuse me, miss ? he's right. those are tough hard water stains, and that cleaner's not gonna cut it.
7:27 pm
truth is, 85% of us have hard water and many don't even know it. you need lime-a-way. lime-a-way is specially formulated to conquer hard water stains. it's 4 times more effective at removing lime scale than the leading bathroom cleaner. see the lime-a-way difference or your money back. >> jennifer: well, watching the news you might get the impression that the only two issues that president obama is working on are gun safety and the looming debt ceiling debate.
7:28 pm
but there really is more on his plate, including immigration reform and student loans and possible supreme court vacancies. how do we expect president obama to handle these very large matters and what are his priorities going to be in his second term agenda? kelly has been writing about this welcome inside "the war room." >> happy new year. >> jennifer: happy new year to you, too. always delightful to have you. you've been working on the issue of the second term and what is looming. kelly, today the conservative chamber of commerce said immigration reform is one of their top priorities. don't you think that's a huge gift to president obama's hopes to achieve immigration reform in this new congress? >> you know what is the biggest gift to president obama for immigration reform, the election.
7:29 pm
the election. because i'm sorry, when i heard that sean hannity was open to immigration reform, i wasn't sure if i was on that episode of "seinfeld" where everything was in bizarro world. we've crossed over into a new america. immigration reform is no long arrest pipe dream. it's likely going to happen because mainly latinos will determine the future of the electorate. governor jeb bush who was talking about my home state of texas and said it was possible that texas could go blue. jeb bush said it was possible if the republicans don't engage on the issue of immigration reform and evolve. i really think there is a chance of getting it done. look he fired a warning shot a couple of days ago with this waiver to the department of homeland security if you guys won't work with me, i'll work around you right? for those of you who don't know
7:30 pm
those undocumented immigrants who have a spouse, a child, a parent who is an american citizen don't have to go back to their home country and start the process over which is why a lot of people didn't want to step forward and do the process the right way. >> jennifer: well, it will be interesting to see whether immigration reform is low hanging fruit and whether republicans will do more than just surface kind of issues, not penetrate, not give people a pass to citizenship. this debate is a very interesting one. i do predict that your home state texas will be blue. >> half of americans support path to citizenship and that number jumps to 70% for people under 30. >> jennifer: another issue is student loans and student debit. let's live to president obama talk about his personal experience of student debit.
7:31 pm
check this out i'm the president of the united states. we just finished paying off our student loans eight years ago. that wasn't that long ago. >> jennifer: now you predicted that that's a huge opportunity for the president in his second term. what should he do for americans who are buryied under student loan debt. >> he has done more on student loans than any other issue. i'm not saying that in jest. there's so much that he has done. i would say the most important thing he could do is something that he has scratched the surface of, he has engaged the consumer protection bureau making sure that students and families have accurate information when they apply to college. that gets to the heart of the real issue governor. what you have happening is you have a lot of students who graduate with let's say $50,000 $100,000 of debit because the
7:32 pm
college they applied to had in their materials that we have 98% employment rate. but what they don't say they're working at watt there's waitresses, working part time. to say that we want more transparency from colleges. the real question is, is he going to put muscle behind that. are there going to be repercussions for not being forthright by employment stats. i think this will curb the unfairness that students are saddled with debt. >> jennifer: transparentcy changes behavior and it's important to hold colleges' feet to the fire in terms of the that jack
7:33 pm
up the debt and loans and the cost of going to college. by taking out the middle man in the student loan operation where you go to the federal government and all of that percentage of administrative costs are taken out. >> and the idr. fighting to make sure that the minimum payment is 10% of your income not 15%. that may have saved a lot of people from economic ruin. >> jennifer: the supreme court justices potentially you might have one or two vacant vacancy you do think the presidency could make a groundbreaking appointment by pointing someone who is openly gay. >> last year at first he made the first nominee of an openly gay black male justice to the court. he has number noted an openly
7:34 pm
lesbian asian attorney to the federal court. i think in the second term we could see a less cautious obama and nominating someone who is openly gay or african-american justice or first asian justice. that would be exciting to consider. >> jennifer: it will be exciteing to see. thank you so much. we love having you inside "the war room." now you know what would make almost everything we just talked about a whole heck of a lot easier? filibuster reform. that story is next. it's one you'll only find in "the war roooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo very, very excited about that and very proud of that. >>beltway politics from inside the loop. >>we tackle the big issues here in our nation's capital, around the country and around the globe. >>dc columnist and four time emmy winner bill press opens current's morning news block. >>we'll do our best to carry the flag from 6 to 9 every morning.
7:35 pm
>>liberal and proud of it.
7:36 pm
7:37 pm
7:38 pm
>> jennifer: senate majority harry reid wants filibuster reform so he he can confirm appointments without a single lone senator threatening to bring the whole chamber to a halt. in recent years they have perfecterred using just the threat of a filibuster to get what they want. we all remember how they did that to keep now senator elizabeth warren leading from the consumer financial protection bureau, but there is the case of federal nominees
7:39 pm
elissa cadish and caitlin halligan. neither were seen as gun friendly but fortunately president obama is fighting for them, and filibuster reform is becoming the biggest tool in the lobbiest toolbox to block them and others. stephen duffield rat crossroads gps he wrote an op-ed quote this spells the effective end to minority rights in the senate. today's 60-vote bar to end debate will be gone and the senate will be transformed into presidential obama's rubber stamp. harsh words. but maybe there is something else behind his view. our next guest leeton, lee fong wrote
7:40 pm
about filibuster reform and why money is standing in the way. senators using the threat of a filibuster certainly as grandiose as it used to be when mr. smith went to washington. take us inside sort of the dark money, the lobbying money behind the overuse of the filibuster. >> well, the filibuster is nothing like it is in the movies. in recent years no one actually goes to the floor and speaks. in fact, a senator only has to send a letter to their party leader, mitch mcconnell or harry reid, and request a block on a piece of legislation then they can go golfing or skiing, and they never have to be held accountable. >> jennifer: and their letter is filibustering for them. >> exactly. >> jennifer: that opens up a whole bunch of blockage, which
7:41 pm
is the big concern. your latest article focuses on people in particular one guy named stephen duffield the master of using the filibuster. >> there are a lot of lobbyists who use the filibuster and obstruction tactics but duffield goes out and rallies the public against rules reform. >> jennifer: meaning filibuster reform. >> he's spending millions of dollars electing members of the senate as part of crossroads gps. he's the embodiment of the problem. he has a close relationship with his g.o.p. senators. on the other hand on his lobby lobbying website he uses back benched republicans to use the
7:42 pm
rules for his clients. >> jennifer: he's buying filibusters for his clients who don't want to see the rules changed because he like the status quo. >> it's a great business if you can find it. >> jennifer: he's obviously doing very well. in your reporting as you looked at the senate, which senators are the worst abusers of filibuster. >> i don't think i have time to filibuster your show and talk about all the examples. but i'll name one quickly, a senator threatened to block every single obama nominee until the pentagon agreed to a contract in alabama shelby's home state to one of the largest contributors to shelby's campaign. >> jennifer: of course. will the it address this issue of the buying of filibusters by lobbyists, is that something that could be fixed?
7:43 pm
>> we don't know what the end package will look like. but the outline that has been proposed by udall will provide accountability. if a senator like senator shelby wants to block a special interest then they have to go to the floor and make their case. that will call for accountability. >> jennifer: so a piece of paper cannot make your case for you. you've got to do what jimmy stewart in "mr. smith goes to washington" did. stand on the floor and make the case. however, that has been opposed by the group of carl levin and john mccain. >> there are a lot of competing interests here, and some folks for the compromise where instead just some nominees could be blocked, but each senator could have unlimited abilities to
7:44 pm
filibuster a nominee. again, with the republicans in the minority, they don't want to see any erosion of their kind of de facto control of the chamber. >> jennifer: do you think new senators--we've got a closer margin than last time. we have 55 democratic senators. they need 60 to overcome the senator. elizabeth war len, did she sign on with the filibuster reform. >> we have a new class of senators and she has experience with the filibuster. some of the reforms she was involved in crafts were blocked. foreclosure mitigation was filibustered, credit card reforms were filibustered, so she has an unique perspective. >> jennifer: she's able to help get that through. how is the use the right wing
7:45 pm
use of the filibuster around gun safety. >> obama is entering his fifth year in the office. he has not been able to nominate--confirm, a single head to the atf. that's probably the most dramatic example of the gun lobby using the filibuster to block reform. >> jennifer: the irony of all that is so amazing. lee fong. thank you for coming inside "the war room" again. contributing writer for the nation. a good book being put to good use. where president obama will be placing his left hand when he raises his right on inauguration day. and brett erlich and i both love new jersey's republican governor, although sadly for very different reasons. >> coming up, chris christie is on the cover of "time" magazine,
7:46 pm
and he is not happy a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a who is this? that's pete. my... [ dennis' voice ] allstate agent. a "starving artist" has an allstate agent? he got me... [ dennis' voice ] the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance and you still get an agent. [ normal voice ] i call it... [ dennis' voice ] the protector. is that what you call it? the protector! okay. ♪ ♪ the allstate value plan. are you in good hands? cook what you love and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.
7:47 pm
7:48 pm
7:49 pm
>> jennifer: all right, time to see how things are faring in the frying pan of the progressive fire. for that we'll go down to los angeles and welcome in the host of the "the young turks." cenk august, uygur how are you doing today? >> cenk: i'm doing great. >> jennifer: what do you have for the frying pan tonight. >> cenk: jack lew. >> jennifer: oh, i see you're going to fry him. he's not a guest. >> cenk: no. >> jennifer: cenk, cenk, cenk, honestly he's good guy. >> cenk: we're going to talk to william black one of the regulators on the s & l crisis. he thinks jack lew having worked for the banks is a significant issue. we'll talk about that. i want to talk about progressive victories as well, and victory after victory is the gay rights
7:50 pm
groups, which is great. they had an anti-gay pass taken out of the inauguration. how did they do it? i think a lot of progressives can learn from the gay rights movement. and then the press conference on guns control was interrupted by a gun shooting. >> jennifer: yes, i'm interested in the pastor who was pulled out. it's interesting how it was phrased, he decided to pull himself out but there is a lot going on behind the scenes and that's what you're looking at. >> cenk: absolutely. anyone who withdraws oh, i didn't want to cause a distraction, but normally it's the progressives who is withdrawing. how do progressives get that victory? we have a great guest. >> jennifer: excellent. always good. "the young turks" always at the cutting edge of things. thanks, cenk, have a great show. >> cenk: thank you. >> jennifer: i want to tell but
7:51 pm
four stories that are generating a buzz in our war room today. i want you to be up on the progressive nuggets of the news. president obama, this is the first one is adding a symbolic twist to this year's public spearing in ceremony. on january 21st, the president is going to take the oath of office but with two bibles. one that belonged to abraham lincoln, and one that belonged to martin luther king jr. the president is going to be sworn in with king's bible on martin luther king jr. day. he'll be facing at that moment the lincoln memorial, where king delivered his famous "i have a dream" speech 50 years ago. as far as symbolism goes, it does not get better than that. and then what had gotten better are california's finances. for the first time in five years california will not have a budget deficit. in fact, democratic governor jerry brown today announced a
7:52 pm
budget for the next fiscal year that bloomberg news projects to have a $851 million surplus. a surplus. as recently as 2009 california ran a $49 billion budget deficit deficit. now $851 million surplus. thanks to voter-approved tax increase the past election, the budget actually increases investments, including for california schools. it takes a progressive to make the tough calls clean up the mess and put the state on the right track. just sayin', we tip our hat to california governor jerry brown. then way across the country in another deep blue state progressives are taking matters in their own hands. two different massachusetts groups have online petitions to get barney frank temporarily named to john kerry's senate seat should kerry become secretary of state.
7:53 pm
the progressive change campaign committee, the triple-c, both are pressuring governor devalue duvall patrick to appoint the former congressman who has said he wants the job. and the petition to the elizabeth warren campaign that actually says we need someone who we are 100% confident who will fight right along side her. barney frank has endorseed fred markie to fill the seat permanently in the special election that will be scheduled for later this year. then the fourth nugget for you is that we're getting a first look at a possible primary challenge for new jersey democrat frank lautenberg's new senate seat. a new poll shows cory booker leading lautenberg 42%
7:54 pm
booker has said he's considering a round but he has not official entered the race. the 88-year-old frank lautenberg is now serving his fifth term in the senate. still ahead chris christie has been in the news a lot lately. and our own brett erlich is alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.
7:55 pm
fruit just got cooler. fruit on one side, cool on the other. ice breakers duo. a fruity, cool way to break the ice. [ ryon ] eating shrimp at red lobster is a fantastic experience. 30 shrimp for $11.99. i can't imagine anything better. you're getting a ton of shrimp and it tastes really good! [ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobster's 30 shrimp for just $11.99! choose any two of five savory shrimp selections like mango jalapeño shrimp and parmesan crunch shrimp. two delicious shrimp selections on one plate! all with salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits. 30 shrimp, just $11.99 for a limited time.
7:56 pm
wow, that's a lot of shrimp. i'm ryon stewart i'm the ultimate shrimp lover, and i sea food differently. @ñ@ñ >> jennifer: most of us would be honored to appear on the cover
7:57 pm
of "time" magazine, then again most of us are not chris christie. brett erlich has the latest on his favorite foil, shh brett's talking now. >> prisonchris christie is the cover of "time" magazine. wow that's close. zoom out a little bit. he's not happy about it. >> i'm reporting "time" magazine to the anti-italian defamation league. come on. >> it makes you look like tony soprano. >> i can't wait for my kids to see it. >> there is no similarity between tony soprano and chris christie. >> i'm about to put you through that goddamn window. >> after you graduate from lawsuit school your rear end is going to be thrown in jail,
7:58 pm
7:59 pm